I’ve been a busy girl!!
Here’s what I’ve been up to this past week--Enjoy!
Friday, December 29, 2006
An Eventful Thursday
It’s been nice visiting the family in sunny Florida. It hasn’t been too warm… but it sure beats Chicago weather!
I’ve been doing the usual, shopping with Mom (fyi—if you’re ever in the Palm Beach area, there’s this Mexican restaurant where they make guacamole table side…it’s amazing!!—Mom, what’s the name of the place??), hanging out with Jack (check out his Christmas Train display!)
visiting Grandma and Grandpa, going to prison....
That’s right, yesterday, instead of being in a bar, I was behind bars.
My mother has been a CCI (Canine Companions for Independence) puppy raiser. Since her last dog, Tonka, was taken in to the program, she has been training inmates and their puppies in the Sheriff’s Drug Farm Boot Camp Facility.
Thursday morning, I was up bright and early to go to the prison to help her with the days class. Sergeant Harris was there to escort us to the space used for the classroom. Mom leads a class of 8 inmates, and 4 dogs. Evenly divided with men and women, I helped the prisoners work the dogs and practice the commands. Sergeant Harris even took me to see the woman’s dormitory.
It was an interesting experience. It's definately run like a boot camp, but all the prisoners were quite respectful (ma'am, yes, ma'am!). There was some confusion with one of the guards, apparently, he thought I was in High School (good, grief!! I'm a grown-up damn it!!). I was not allowed to take pictures in the prison, but here’s pictures of two of the dogs, Tash (black lab) and Solis (golden mix).
After a morning of puppy class at the prison, we had dinner at Kee, my favorite restaurant in Palm Beach!
Here’s Grandpa, happy to have his scotch (Johnny Walker Black, easy on the rocks--can any one find any ice in his glass? I sure can't!).
Gram with her coffee.
Me and the Grandparents.
I’ve been doing the usual, shopping with Mom (fyi—if you’re ever in the Palm Beach area, there’s this Mexican restaurant where they make guacamole table side…it’s amazing!!—Mom, what’s the name of the place??), hanging out with Jack (check out his Christmas Train display!)
visiting Grandma and Grandpa, going to prison....
That’s right, yesterday, instead of being in a bar, I was behind bars.
My mother has been a CCI (Canine Companions for Independence) puppy raiser. Since her last dog, Tonka, was taken in to the program, she has been training inmates and their puppies in the Sheriff’s Drug Farm Boot Camp Facility.
Thursday morning, I was up bright and early to go to the prison to help her with the days class. Sergeant Harris was there to escort us to the space used for the classroom. Mom leads a class of 8 inmates, and 4 dogs. Evenly divided with men and women, I helped the prisoners work the dogs and practice the commands. Sergeant Harris even took me to see the woman’s dormitory.
It was an interesting experience. It's definately run like a boot camp, but all the prisoners were quite respectful (ma'am, yes, ma'am!). There was some confusion with one of the guards, apparently, he thought I was in High School (good, grief!! I'm a grown-up damn it!!). I was not allowed to take pictures in the prison, but here’s pictures of two of the dogs, Tash (black lab) and Solis (golden mix).
After a morning of puppy class at the prison, we had dinner at Kee, my favorite restaurant in Palm Beach!
Here’s Grandpa, happy to have his scotch (Johnny Walker Black, easy on the rocks--can any one find any ice in his glass? I sure can't!).
Gram with her coffee.
Me and the Grandparents.
Hi, Mom!
Jack and I.
The trip was short this time, but it was nice to see everyone!
Christmas Surprises
After the game, I headed home to pack for Christmas. I was flying to Florida to surprise my mom for Christmas. I only got about an hour of sleep before I had to hop in a cab and head to O’Hare.
What got me through the day?
Thank goodness for caffeine!
Mom was definitely surprised! I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her speechless!
After the surprise, I had some time to freshen up, and then headed to Christmas dinner with the family!
What got me through the day?
Thank goodness for caffeine!
Mom was definitely surprised! I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen her speechless!
After the surprise, I had some time to freshen up, and then headed to Christmas dinner with the family!
Merry Christmas to ME!!
After my bout with the flu, I was concerned that my Christmas Eve plans would be squelched. Fortunately, I’m a CHAMP and hopped out of bed at 4:30 am rarein’ to go!!
I hit the shower, got everything together to drive to Laura’s house. I did stop for bagels. The people a Dunkin’ Donuts found me quite entertaining. I was skipping through the store in my Butkus Jersey and Bears Santa Hat. For some reason, they decided, that I didn’t need any coffee. (I wonder way? Caffeine Nazis!!)
Any who, I made it to Laura’s a little before 6:00—ROADTRIP!!
For those of you out of the loop, Laura, Nancy, Rob and I were heading to Detroit to see the Bears game!!
Here’s Laura and Nancy waiting for the game to start,
The Bears Santa hat made it’s debut at this game. (I love “Bears Wear!”) I also love my Bears Fan! It also says, "Go Chicago" and "Number One"--It was part of my Christmas present from Becca. She found it in rual Iowa...who knew?! (Thanks, Becca!!)
I hit the shower, got everything together to drive to Laura’s house. I did stop for bagels. The people a Dunkin’ Donuts found me quite entertaining. I was skipping through the store in my Butkus Jersey and Bears Santa Hat. For some reason, they decided, that I didn’t need any coffee. (I wonder way? Caffeine Nazis!!)
Any who, I made it to Laura’s a little before 6:00—ROADTRIP!!
For those of you out of the loop, Laura, Nancy, Rob and I were heading to Detroit to see the Bears game!!
Here’s Laura and Nancy waiting for the game to start,
The Bears Santa hat made it’s debut at this game. (I love “Bears Wear!”) I also love my Bears Fan! It also says, "Go Chicago" and "Number One"--It was part of my Christmas present from Becca. She found it in rual Iowa...who knew?! (Thanks, Becca!!)
The view from our seats.
They actually sell Guinness at Ford Field!! Merry Christmas to me!!
Go Bears!!!
During the game, there’s a game to play, sponsored by Dunkin’ Donuts, where each level of the stadium is either “Cuppy the Coffee”, a Breakfast Sandwich or a Donut, and they race on the screen. I’m sure many of you have seen a similar thing at other sporting events. Well, at Ford field, people dressed as these characters finish the on screen race by running out of the tunnel and onto the field. It was hilarious when the breakfast sandwich fell on the field and couldn’t get up. If you look carefully, you can see them in the top of the pic.
After a heart stopping ending…Bears win!!
Here are the happy Bears fans…
And disgruntled Lions fans…I know you can’t read the signs…but they’re really rude to Millen. (Thanks to the friendly Lions fans for the pic).
It’s time to head home, Rob, leaves the stadium with his Bears tail.
This road trip was awesome!! Thanks to Laura for finding tickets.
GO BEARS!!
Ick
I’m going to start this post by saying, I officially do not like orange juice. I also should warn the masses…the story you are about to read is not for the weak of stomach.
Why you may ask? What’s that, faithful readers? Shouldn’t this post be one of joy due to my impending Holiday Break that comes with being a teacher? Well, let’s just say, my last day at work blew (literally).
I started the day our usual Friday staff breakfast (Mr. Greenburg’s “crack cake” –as I call it—was awesome!). I delivered my Secret Santa gift (I was foiled by my unique handwriting!!). Sarah, our former band teacher was in town for a conference and came by to visit. The children actually weren’t that crazy so far…I had even gotten some homemade cards from a few of my students. It seemed that this day wasn’t going to be so crazy…until fourth period with the 4th graders.
I felt that something wasn’t right. Maybe I was hungry. I hadn’t had much for breakfast besides Greenburg’s crack cake and some fruit with the formentioned orange juice nothing out of the ordinary. I was reprimanding a student, who (and this is important later in the story) has a speech impediment of stuttering when suddenly, I NEEDED my garbage can. Yeah, I yakked. This poor kid froze. He just stood there starring at me with HUGE eyes. Eventually he got out the sentence “M-m-m-m-m-ms. B? Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-ould I g-g-g-g-g-get the of-f-f-f-f-f-fice?” In between heaves, I told him to get Ms. Rose in the Library. Ten minutes later he came running back into my room, grabbed another student and ran back out of my room. I later found out that he was so excited and due to his speech, he couldn’t quite get the information out. Ms. Rose did eventually come to my class and helped by taking my fourth graders for the remainder of the period.
I bagged up the garbage can and took it to the dumpster, but ended up throwing up in the downstairs bathroom near the cafeteria. The lunch ladies began asking when my baby was due thinking that my sickness was due to morning sickness rather than the flu. No amount of convincing could make them believe that it REALLY IS THE FLU!! (Sorry, ladies, no preggos here!)
I made it back up to my classroom to see my sixth graders waiting for me. The sixth grade teacher took one look at me and asked what was wrong. She did offer to give up her prep, but I said that I would try to take her kids. I guess I must have looked pretty bad because they didn’t even want to walk into my room! I have to admit, I wanted them for slightly selfish reasons; they’re a really good bunch of kids, and I needed a few things put away before the break and I knew I could count on them to help me out. It was the best decision I could have made. Students who weren’t helping me were quiet and coloring, the rest of the students straightened up my classroom, cleaned my tables, and prepped the clay for the break. (Kudos to room 304!!).
I was honestly hoping that I would make it to the end of the day. But as the period was stretching on, I new it was not possible. I got together some coloring pages for the 7th and 8th graders (my last two periods of the day) and sent them to the office with a note saying that I needed to go home, and to give these to whom ever was covering my class.
As the sixth graders were lining up, I was preparing to leave and then it hit me. I wasn’t going to leave my school without paying homage to the porcelain gods one more time. Just as I grabbed my garbage can and hit the floor, I heard my assistant principal asking me why I wanted to leave early? (HELLO?!?! I Think everyone in the school knew Ms. B was barfing by now!!!) Was it an emergency? (Ya, think?) and that I couldn’t leave because there weren’t any subs available (WTF?!?!?!). Unfortunately, I was a little to occupied to answer.
I’m sure that my sixth graders were picked up by their teacher. I was in my classroom, still vomiting, when I heard the other art teacher run in my room. Laura, bless her heart, had a front row show. You know you have a good friend, when they make sure you’re alive during the flu (LP—YOU ROCK!!). Even better, she single handedly diverted my in coming 8th grade class. All I heard was her telling Mr. S. that his class was NOT having art today. I did hear one student get by her, for a glimpse of the show. That student informed her class that “Ms. B was on the floor puking all over the place” (Sweet, isn’t she?).
A few minutes later, the swells had calmed, and I gathered my belongings, as the garbage, I heard over the speaker, “Um, Ms. B?” “Yeah?”, I feebly answered. “Ms. B, I had no idea you were that sick, your classes have been canceled for the day, you may go home.”
HALELULLEA!! It’s a Christmas Miracle!!
I’m not sure who changed the office’s mind, but thank GOD!! Made a second trip to the dumpster and headed in to drop my keys. My Ass’t Principal saw me and said that from my note, she didn’t realize that I was that ill. She said that she was sorry, and asked if I was ok to drive home. I really wasn’t terrible interested in the explanation, I just wanted to go home!!
I did make it home without defiling the interior of my car and took a nice nap on my bathroom floor. Nothing like starting the holiday break with a bang.
Why you may ask? What’s that, faithful readers? Shouldn’t this post be one of joy due to my impending Holiday Break that comes with being a teacher? Well, let’s just say, my last day at work blew (literally).
I started the day our usual Friday staff breakfast (Mr. Greenburg’s “crack cake” –as I call it—was awesome!). I delivered my Secret Santa gift (I was foiled by my unique handwriting!!). Sarah, our former band teacher was in town for a conference and came by to visit. The children actually weren’t that crazy so far…I had even gotten some homemade cards from a few of my students. It seemed that this day wasn’t going to be so crazy…until fourth period with the 4th graders.
I felt that something wasn’t right. Maybe I was hungry. I hadn’t had much for breakfast besides Greenburg’s crack cake and some fruit with the formentioned orange juice nothing out of the ordinary. I was reprimanding a student, who (and this is important later in the story) has a speech impediment of stuttering when suddenly, I NEEDED my garbage can. Yeah, I yakked. This poor kid froze. He just stood there starring at me with HUGE eyes. Eventually he got out the sentence “M-m-m-m-m-ms. B? Sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-sh-ould I g-g-g-g-g-get the of-f-f-f-f-f-fice?” In between heaves, I told him to get Ms. Rose in the Library. Ten minutes later he came running back into my room, grabbed another student and ran back out of my room. I later found out that he was so excited and due to his speech, he couldn’t quite get the information out. Ms. Rose did eventually come to my class and helped by taking my fourth graders for the remainder of the period.
I bagged up the garbage can and took it to the dumpster, but ended up throwing up in the downstairs bathroom near the cafeteria. The lunch ladies began asking when my baby was due thinking that my sickness was due to morning sickness rather than the flu. No amount of convincing could make them believe that it REALLY IS THE FLU!! (Sorry, ladies, no preggos here!)
I made it back up to my classroom to see my sixth graders waiting for me. The sixth grade teacher took one look at me and asked what was wrong. She did offer to give up her prep, but I said that I would try to take her kids. I guess I must have looked pretty bad because they didn’t even want to walk into my room! I have to admit, I wanted them for slightly selfish reasons; they’re a really good bunch of kids, and I needed a few things put away before the break and I knew I could count on them to help me out. It was the best decision I could have made. Students who weren’t helping me were quiet and coloring, the rest of the students straightened up my classroom, cleaned my tables, and prepped the clay for the break. (Kudos to room 304!!).
I was honestly hoping that I would make it to the end of the day. But as the period was stretching on, I new it was not possible. I got together some coloring pages for the 7th and 8th graders (my last two periods of the day) and sent them to the office with a note saying that I needed to go home, and to give these to whom ever was covering my class.
As the sixth graders were lining up, I was preparing to leave and then it hit me. I wasn’t going to leave my school without paying homage to the porcelain gods one more time. Just as I grabbed my garbage can and hit the floor, I heard my assistant principal asking me why I wanted to leave early? (HELLO?!?! I Think everyone in the school knew Ms. B was barfing by now!!!) Was it an emergency? (Ya, think?) and that I couldn’t leave because there weren’t any subs available (WTF?!?!?!). Unfortunately, I was a little to occupied to answer.
I’m sure that my sixth graders were picked up by their teacher. I was in my classroom, still vomiting, when I heard the other art teacher run in my room. Laura, bless her heart, had a front row show. You know you have a good friend, when they make sure you’re alive during the flu (LP—YOU ROCK!!). Even better, she single handedly diverted my in coming 8th grade class. All I heard was her telling Mr. S. that his class was NOT having art today. I did hear one student get by her, for a glimpse of the show. That student informed her class that “Ms. B was on the floor puking all over the place” (Sweet, isn’t she?).
A few minutes later, the swells had calmed, and I gathered my belongings, as the garbage, I heard over the speaker, “Um, Ms. B?” “Yeah?”, I feebly answered. “Ms. B, I had no idea you were that sick, your classes have been canceled for the day, you may go home.”
HALELULLEA!! It’s a Christmas Miracle!!
I’m not sure who changed the office’s mind, but thank GOD!! Made a second trip to the dumpster and headed in to drop my keys. My Ass’t Principal saw me and said that from my note, she didn’t realize that I was that ill. She said that she was sorry, and asked if I was ok to drive home. I really wasn’t terrible interested in the explanation, I just wanted to go home!!
I did make it home without defiling the interior of my car and took a nice nap on my bathroom floor. Nothing like starting the holiday break with a bang.
Stumped
When I came home from work on Thursday night, something looked different on my parkway.
The city finally did something about the dead trees on my parkway. The tree closest to my garage has been dead for two years and the other one never had leaves over the summer.
I guess now I don’t have to worry about branches falling and hurting anyone, but the space looks so empty now! Look at the HUGE Stumps!
Hopefully, next spring the city will plant some new trees. My parkway looks so sparse!
The city finally did something about the dead trees on my parkway. The tree closest to my garage has been dead for two years and the other one never had leaves over the summer.
I guess now I don’t have to worry about branches falling and hurting anyone, but the space looks so empty now! Look at the HUGE Stumps!
Hopefully, next spring the city will plant some new trees. My parkway looks so sparse!
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
More un-suprising results...
Yet another quiz where the results are a surprise to no one!
(except the implication that I'm "less weird"!)
| Arty Kid |
 You're probably a little less weird these days - but even more talented! |
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Thoughts on Decorations
Since she was in between residency interviews, Barb and I went to Lincolnwood to check out their Christmas lights. Some of these houses are actually professionally decorated. There's one house that is my favorite, that we made sure to see. It has a three story Christmas tree in the house, where the "top" of the tree actually appears to be poking through the roof. They also have a sleigh with real deer attached to it.
I told Barb, that I love to see this house every year because "It's just not Christmas with out dead reindeer!" We got to wondering, where does one store taxidermied reindeer? Those two deer have been out there for years, so they must keep them somewhere. I'm not sure I'd want them stacked in my garage or attic. EW!
On the way home, I happened to notice a house that I had talked about in an earlier post.
The house that I had mentioned back in September as putting out their Christmas lights, actually had no lights on it!! This house is even more messed up than I thought. Why does one put UP lights in September to not have anything remotely holiday durning the time period it's expected!? WTF?!?!
Friday, December 15, 2006
Something off...
So, this is just a quickie thought...
I was just lounging on my couch tonight and this Buy Owner commercial came on. You know the ones, where people sit in their bright and shiney newly purchased homes and tell how quick and easy it was to buy and sell their homes using this service.
It occured to me that there seems to be something off about some of these people. I started to wonder, are they real people? Are they actors? If they're real people, they seem awfully stiff, and if their actors, they're not very good. Maybe they're actually cyborgs...(maybe I shouldn't have had a martini and mini-marshmellows for dinner...)
I was just lounging on my couch tonight and this Buy Owner commercial came on. You know the ones, where people sit in their bright and shiney newly purchased homes and tell how quick and easy it was to buy and sell their homes using this service.
It occured to me that there seems to be something off about some of these people. I started to wonder, are they real people? Are they actors? If they're real people, they seem awfully stiff, and if their actors, they're not very good. Maybe they're actually cyborgs...(maybe I shouldn't have had a martini and mini-marshmellows for dinner...)
Thursday, December 7, 2006
For the Kids
In a previous post I shared my experience making Haitian Spirit Bottles. I was trying to figure out what type of bottles that would be both easily obtained and small. I decided that I would try these cute little tonic water bottles.
I'll be honest, I've never had tonic water before, much less have any clue what to do with it. Of course I bought the diet variety, heck, I buy diet everything. I tried it out of the bottle...it was a little bitter. I've heard of gin and tonic, so I figured why not give that a whirl. Shot of gin, little lime...I'm golden! It's probably something that I'd have to be in the mood for, but at least I have a way to get spirit bottles for my kids!
Anyone have suggestions for other uses for tonic water or other drinks that come in those cute little bottles?
Until then I'll be having gin and tonics...after all, it's for the kids!
I'll be honest, I've never had tonic water before, much less have any clue what to do with it. Of course I bought the diet variety, heck, I buy diet everything. I tried it out of the bottle...it was a little bitter. I've heard of gin and tonic, so I figured why not give that a whirl. Shot of gin, little lime...I'm golden! It's probably something that I'd have to be in the mood for, but at least I have a way to get spirit bottles for my kids!
Anyone have suggestions for other uses for tonic water or other drinks that come in those cute little bottles?
Until then I'll be having gin and tonics...after all, it's for the kids!
Sunday, December 3, 2006
Cafe Cubano
I usually have some time to kill between work and class on Wednesdays. Last week, instead of the usual Panera, I decided to check out Cafe' Cubano on North Ave. in Elmwood Park.
Obviously, it's a Cuban resturaunt... so I ordered a Mojito.
Obviously, it's a Cuban resturaunt... so I ordered a Mojito.
It was pretty good...made the old fashoned way. Muddled and not made with the simple syrup. I also ordered a sandwich, Miami style.
Standard Cuban fare, the bread was fabulous and crunchy. I'd probably go back if I was in the mood.
The best part was watching the windows get painted for the holidays. It was so fun to watch!
I didn't get a good picture from the outside, it was too dark. But if you're driving on North Ave. west of Harlem, check it out!
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